Projects of National Significance: Empowering Youth with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities to Manage Their Healthcare Transitions | HHS 2021 ACL AOD DNCE 0100

Opportunity Information: Apply for HHS 2021 ACL AOD DNCE 0100

The Department of Health and Human Services, through the Administration for Community Living (ACL) and its Administration on Disabilities (AoD), offered a discretionary cooperative agreement under the Projects of National Significance program to establish a national healthcare transition resource center focused on youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD). The central aim of the opportunity is to build a coordinated, national hub that helps young people with ID/DD successfully move from pediatric or youth-oriented healthcare systems into adult models of care, with a strong emphasis on person-centered practices and cultural competence. The effort is framed around improving real-life outcomes for youth, especially stronger self-determination, greater independence, and better overall quality of life as healthcare responsibilities and expectations change during the transition to adulthood.

The proposed center is expected to function as a resource and support infrastructure rather than a direct service provider. In practice, that means developing, gathering, and sharing practical tools, guidance, and training that can be used by youth with ID/DD, as well as by the people who often help them navigate healthcare systems, such as family members, guardians, caregivers, and other members of their support networks. The opportunity highlights that transition is not only a medical handoff from one provider type to another, but also a broader shift in how care is accessed, decisions are made, and responsibilities are managed. By strengthening supports during this period, the center is intended to help youth build the skills and confidence needed to participate in healthcare decisions, communicate with providers, understand their health needs, and manage appointments, medications, and preventive care within adult systems that may be less family-directed than pediatric settings.

This grant was structured as a five-year project with a single expected award, signaling an intent to create one national focal point that can standardize and elevate transition resources across states and communities. The maximum annual funding listed is $485,000, and the funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which typically means the federal agency anticipates an active partnership role during the project period (for example, collaboration on priorities, deliverables, dissemination, and alignment with federal transition goals). The activity category is Health, and the CFDA number associated with the program is 93.631.

Eligibility for the opportunity was broad and designed to allow many types of organizations with relevant reach and expertise to compete. Eligible applicants included various levels of government (state, county, city or township, and special district governments), independent school districts, public and state-controlled colleges and universities, federally recognized tribal governments, tribal organizations, public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, and nonprofit organizations both with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding higher education institutions in the nonprofit category listing). The opportunity was posted with a creation date of May 12, 2021, and an original closing date of July 11, 2021, indicating a relatively standard application window for a national-level discretionary award.

Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a federal investment in a national capacity-building center dedicated to helping youth with ID/DD and their supporters navigate the complex, often fragmented shift to adult healthcare. The focus on person-centered and culturally competent approaches suggests that the center is expected to make resources accessible and relevant across diverse communities, recognizing differences in culture, language, and lived experience while keeping the youth's goals, preferences, and autonomy at the center of transition planning.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Community Living in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Projects of National Significance: Empowering Youth with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities to Manage Their Healthcare Transitions" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.631.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 12, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 11, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $485,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Apply for HHS 2021 ACL AOD DNCE 0100

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